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NCSD provides communication among nuclear criticality safety professionals through the development of standards, the evolution of training methods and materials, the presentation of technical data and procedures, and the creation of specialty publications. In these ways, the division furthers the exchange of technical information on nuclear criticality safety with the ultimate goal of promoting the safe handling of fissionable materials outside reactors.
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Countering the nuclear workforce shortage narrative
James Chamberlain, director of the Nuclear, Utilities, and Energy Sector at Rullion, has declared that the nuclear industry will not have workforce challenges going forward. “It’s time to challenge the scarcity narrative,” he wrote in a recent online article. “Nuclear isn't short of talent; it’s short of imagination in how it attracts, trains, and supports the workforce of the future.”
G. Winkler, V. Spiegel, C. M. Eisenhauer, D. L. Smith
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 78 | Number 4 | August 1981 | Pages 415-419
Technical Note | doi.org/10.13182/NSE81-A21377
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The average cross section for the reaction 63Cu(n, α)60Co has been measured absolutely in the 252Cf spontaneous fission neutron field by activation in compensated flux geometry with an accuracy of ∼2.4% (1α). A near-point source of 252Cf and a light mass source-detector assembly in a low-scattering environment was used. The resulting cross-section value was compared with calculated values obtained by convoluting the spectral distribution of 252Cf neutrons with existing energy-differential data for the reaction 63Cu(n, α)60Co. There is very good agreement (within 5%) between the experimental and the calculated average cross section if the results from a recent measurement of the 63Cu(n, α)60Co excitation function are used. Thus the reaction 63Cu(n, α)60Co, which is an important threshold reaction in reactor dosimetry, fulfills the conditions for a Category I neutron-dosimetry reaction for fission reactor applications.
